The United Nations has announced the appointment of Nelson Muffuh of Cameroon as the UN Resident Coordinator in South Africa. His selection comes alongside two other key appointments: With over 20 years of experience in international relations, political affairs, and sustainable development, Muffuh has built a distinguished career within the United Nations system, making significant contributions at global, regional, and country levels. Before stepping into his new role in South Africa, Muffuh served as Chief of Staff and Principal Strategic Adviser to the UN Deputy Secretary-General since 2017. In this capacity, he played a pivotal role in advancing global efforts on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), strengthening the UN development system, and enhancing the Resident Coordinators network.
His leadership was instrumental in driving multi-sectoral partnerships and whole-of-society approaches to accelerate progress toward achieving the 2030 Agenda. Muffuh was also a lead strategic adviser and policy coordinator on sustainable development, political affairs, and global partnerships. He helped shape and implement the UN’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, coordinated high-level SDG summits, Financing for Development initiatives, and Climate Action dialogues, and was actively involved in launching transformative global initiatives such as The Spotlight Initiative, aimed at ending violence against women and girls; The Decade of Action, a movement to fast-track progress toward the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals; The Global Crisis Response Group, addressing the economic fallout of the war in Ukraine, particularly in food security, energy, and finance.
Prior to his tenure as Chief of Staff, Muffuh led stakeholder engagement and global partnerships that shaped the post-2015 development agenda, which culminated in the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs. His United Nations career began with the UNDP-United Nations Millennium Campaign, followed by programme management roles at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Africa. Beyond the UN, Nelson Muffuh has also contributed to the nonprofit sector, previously serving as Senior Programme and Advocacy Advisor at Christian Aid; Programme Coordinator for the African Liberal Network-Westminster Foundation for Democracy; Advisor at Transparency International Secretariat focusing on governance, democracy, and anti-corruption efforts.
He studied Political Science and International Relations at Freie Universität Berlin in Germany and further specialized in Development Cooperation at Sussex University in the United Kingdom. His global education and multilingual capabilities have equipped him with the expertise to navigate complex political landscapes and foster international collaboration.
